Chronic Logic

Now I don't know exactly how the physics is implemented so I might be a bit off on my theorising, but I was wondering if when a shorter link has it's stress levels increased by a ratio of length/optimal length, does it also have it's spring strength increased by the same ratio? When a spring is cut in half, it's spring constant is now twice was the original spring's was, and it only compresses half the distance when the same force is applied. Are the spring constants of the links in Pontifex constant, or do they vary like a cut spring? Perhaps this would help the shorter links hold equivalent weights before breaking?

Hello there, folks.
While Pontifex is a really neat little game, it just doesn't like to play nice with any of the other kids in the sandbox.
I have it set to run in a window, but when I run it, it clips the mouse to the window! Please don't set the mouse clip region when in windowed mode. Let my mouse roam free! It's not a zoo animal you know. http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>
And when I alt-tab to get the mouse outside of the window to go do something else, Pontifex seems intent on trying to do whatever my mouse or keyboard says, even when they're saying stuff to other applications. for instance, I was just over in a chat program typing a long sentence while i could see Pontifex it's window having a hernia trying to interpret my sentence as a sequence of Pontifex keypresses. Please check if the window is active before responding to input!
Then I'll be a happy camper http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Thanks for listening to my little rant.

I can't remember exactly as I'm at work at the level is at home, but it's about ๰k. If the train driver were to eat an extra muffin for breakfast, the bridge would break http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Problem solved!

Solution: find brain, insert brain into head, use brain.

So I was just trying Pontifex out on my other machine at work (a P3), and when I went to try 100 passes I realised the difficulty setting right next to that was at "medium". I put it on "hard" and lo and behold, the bridge broke just like at home! It's been so long since I installed it at home that I'd forgotten about the default difficulty setting option!

So there wasn't a problem after all, except that I'm stupid http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Unfortunately it does mean that my really cool ๩k bridge is useless, lol

I agree about liking this level http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> (maybe it's just because this is the first level I've done since the first contest.) The previous contests both seemed to end up with weird bridges that didn't seem very much like what you'd normally see in reality (maybe real bridge designers need to check out our contests and take notes?), while this one is laid out quite a bit differently and my bridge design is far more conventional. I've pretty much got it as cheap as I can get it, I doubt I could find another โ at this moment unless I come up with some new tricks to tweak the design with http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

I'm curious to see what the masters of Pontifex will come up with for this level...

Absolutely. And who knows if it's CPU related, or maybe something else. If they happen to use a PC that can run the level I created at work, then I have a bridge that's under ๪k. But they might have one that's like my PC at home where that bridge fails every time, in which case I can't send in my best bridge and would need to send in my current "safe" best, which is ๯k. Because I don't know whether their machine will accept my cheap bridge I'll need to go for the safe bridge http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('>

People who happen to have a PC like my one at work where riskier bridges work might send in their bridge, but if ChronicLogic use a PC on which that bridge breaks, then an otherwise valid entry will be failed!

Controversy! Someone phone the tabloids http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Or there might be other physics variations between PCs that cause even my "safe" bridge to fail!

For what it's worth the part of the bridge that's breaking for me are the very small links inside the deck joints which a cable connects to. They seem to be the weak point in my bridge compared to all the other components. At work they are very close to breaking but don't, but at home they are snapping.

I've got a 贉k ragged edge bridge - it tends to break 1 out of every 5 passes. And of *course* it would break on the pass the judges look at, so I need to figure out what's causing the breaking and fix it http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

I think it's possible to get under 贄k...

(Edited by Argonut at 10:31 pm on Mar. 31, 2002)

Calis, I'm impressed! I can't for the life of me come up with any tricks to get below ๬k, so I'm looking forward to checking out your bridge after the contest http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

So at work today I "accidentally" downloaded Pontifex and entered my level in and did a bit of tweaking and managed to cut the cost a little more, and sent the level to myself at home via email. But when I try it on my home machine the bridge breaks every time, while it worked every time at work. Has anyone noticed if the physics can vary between machines? my PC at work is a P4, while my home machine is an Athlon, perhaps that makes a difference in the floating point calculations? it's kind of frustrating because my bridge worked really well at work, but now it's not working here http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('>

hmmm, this seems to be a tricky one. I have a very expensive bridge that works with no broken links, and a cheaper one that also works except that it breaks 60 links while settling... I wish there was some facility for allowing a bridge to settle without breaking!

I'd gotten used to seeing no updates on the website so this is the first time I've checked it in a month... and of course I missed the contest! I would have lost miserably anyway, but I must check in more often. http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Those were some good looking bridges that took out the first 3 spots though, nice work http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> I still think it's a little weird making bridges that sit in water, but hey, that's how the game's universe works, so hopefully we will have anther contest sometime soon and I can experiment at making floating bridges ;)

Ah, finally had a chance to try to make a bridge for contest 1. Due to time contraints I only got about 2 hours in, and tried two different bridge designs, getting weirder/cooler with each one, and I know I'm gonna lose, but I definitely agree with the decision to not talk about bridge costs. I like the anticipation of seeing how everyone compared once the deadline is complete http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> kind of reminds me of getting results back from tests back in school.

Speaking of results, how will they get posted? will we see a list of the complete results, so we can satisfy our curiosity by seeing how many people entered, and look down the list to see how other people we know did?

But I do have one question that isn't clarified in the rules. What speed will the train run at in the official tests? slow, medium, or fast? or all? My bridge doesn't mind what speed, but I could definitely see that some designs might break with a fast train, or even fail with a slow train instead of fast, etc.

anyway, enough for now. Great game, thanks for putting together the new version, guys http://www.pontifex2.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>